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Monday, March 8, 2010

Roast Lamb - Blue Monday




From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I was sent this photo by a friend who has long insisted that photography is an art form. She's made it very hard for me to argue the point and in the process managed to stimulate my taste for lamb and excite an already chronic case of wanderlust. Hopefully, the yen for lamb will be satisfied by tonight's dinner, but wanderlust is another story. Normally, we'd just pack up and go. That would be fine if Bob and I could agree on which continent to visit, but at this juncture he's in Africa and I'm in Asia and we may have to settle the stalemate with a roll of the dice. After looking at the photograph, I decided that if I paired the photo with a recipe, I could share it with you. I still had a gorgeous piece of of lamb that had been sent to me by the folks at Lava Lake Ranch several months ago. It was a top round roast which I decided to bake and serve with a new sauce. I really like this particular cut of meat. It comes packed as a 1 to 1-1/2 pound roast which is perfect for folks who love lamb, but don't want to deal with leftovers for days on end. Roasts this size can be baked in about 20 minutes and while they require another 20 minutes to rest, they can be table ready within an hour. I decided to do a coffee based sauce but I wanted to brighten it with pomegranate molasses and orange essence or zest. It worked out well and we had a lovely meal. Here's the recipe for the roast lamb.

Roast Lamb with Coffee and Orange Sauce...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
1-1/2 lbs lamb top round, room temperature
1 large clove of garlic, finely slivered
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided use
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon coarsely cracked black pepper
.
1 cup strong coffee
1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
2 teaspoons pomegranate molasses
1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
2 tablespoons orange juice
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup heavy cream or half-and-half

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2) Cut slits into top of lamb with knife tip and insert garlic slivers into them. Rub outside of roast with 1 teaspoon olive oil. Cover top surface of lamb with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
3) Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat until very hot. Add reserved olive. Place lamb, seasoned side down, into skillet and cook until browned, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle exposed meat surface with reserved salt and pepper before turning. Turn and cook for an additional 3 minutes. Transfer skillet to oven and cook for about 15-20 minute, or until an instant read thermometer reads 145 degrees. Remove from oven, transfer roast to a serving platter and tent with foil. Let sit for 20 minutes.
4) Deglaze skillet with 1 cup strong coffee. Add sugar, molasses, orange zest and juice and boil rapidly to reduce by half. Add cream and any accumulated meat juices. Adjust seasoning if necessary. Keep warm.
5) Cut lamb into thin slices and serve with sauce. Yield: 4 servings.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Lamb Shanks with Black Cherry Wine Sauce - One Perfect Bite
Moroccan Shepherd's Pie - One Perfect Bite
Persian Meatballs with Yogurt Sauce - One Perfect Bite
Quick Roast Lamb with Mint Sauce - No Recipes
Pomegranate Molasses - The Hungry Mouse
Lamb Stew with Dill - Bitten

This post is being linked to:
Smiling Sally - Blue Monday

38 comments:

  1. That is an artistic shot, Mary. Happy Blue Monday.

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  2. the lamb looks amazing. I love the combination with the orange sauce. And photography is indeed an art form, which you did a great job with here.

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  3. Mary, this recipe looks wonderful- I can almost taste the blend of flavors. Thank you
    xoxo Pattie

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  4. Great photo of your meal! Looks delicious.

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  5. I agree, photography is an art form and I love that picture! The recipe looks good too... Happy Blue Monday Mary :)

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  6. How interesting.. I have never used coffee in a sauce like this.. I would love to try it! I love that this recipe gives you a beautiful well prepared lamb in such a short time.. sounds like a great preparation.
    Thank you for sharing!

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  7. That lamb looks perfectly done and the sauce sounds really good with the coffee/orange flavor to it.

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  8. Your lamb dish looks perfectly cooked and so appealing, but I am in love with that photograph. wow talk about being in the right place at the right time!

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  9. Gorgeous looking Lamb...Yummy
    The Lebanese eat lamb more than any other meats, and the lamb in the Middle East taste 100% better than North American.

    Great photos...

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  10. I. Love. Lamb. In fact, I'm eating it right now. :D

    That roast is gorgeous, I have a hard time getting anything chops or legs.

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  11. Great Photos! What an interesting combination (coffe,orange and lamb).

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  12. Oh my, my, my. I feel Spring coming...

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  13. Oh my ... this makes my jaws juicy ... seriously! It MUST be time for lunch. Love the beautiful photo your friend sent. Thanks for sharing ;-)
    Hugs and blessings,

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  14. I imagine that the sauce has a complex flavor. Is pomegranate molasses sold in specialty store?

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  15. The picture is beautiful, I would hope for you that the dice could choose Asia, I'm dying to go there and taste all the amazing flavors. Love the flavor combination you used, looks delicious. :-)

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  16. Wow, that's a gorgeous picture. Your recipe also looks delicious. The addition of coffee is so intriguing. Definitely bookmarking this!

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  17. beautiful and intriguing photo. why is it that the sheep dont fall off?amazing.

    the roast looks mouth watering..my favorite meat is lamb..mmmm

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  18. This looks marvelous, Mary! My hubby would so love this for dinner!

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  19. Zurin, I think the path is enclosed on both sides, but I'mm not certain.

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  20. I would love to know more about that photo- very intriguing.

    Africa or Asia- I am totally envious.

    I just love lamb. I always end up making gyros when I buy it.

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  21. That is an awesome photo.Where is it?

    I adore lamb. The roast sounds fantastic.

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  22. Wonderful! I really must remember to cook lamp more often. I don't think I have seen top round for sale here.
    What a wonderful photo. Makes me want to hug sheep.

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  23. I say a dice roll would settle the argument nicely. :)

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  24. My first time see lamb combine with coffee recipe, a very interesting dish!! From the photo, the lamb look just very juicy.

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  25. Nice shot! The lamb sounds and looks delicious with orange...I always like meat with fruit :-)

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  26. That's an awesome shot! But then, looking at the awesomeness of those lambs lined up, I don't think I'd have the appetite to eat lamb! Looking at the recipe, though, it does sound really good :)

    Happy Blue Monday!

    -Rach

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  27. wow--that photo is amazing...and the lamb looks delicious too!

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  28. OMG, that 2nd photo is stunning! Btw, roasted lamb sounds great to me too!

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  29. I love, love lamb! Thank you, Mary for the comments on the Peeps LOL! I'm with you on that - don't know when/if I'll ever eat another ... Stacey

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  30. Lori and g, the photo was taken in Scotland.

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  31. The lamb looks perfectly cooked. The addition of coffee sounds really interesting.

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  32. Okay, I came for the lamb - I just love it - and yours is perfect. But that photo- oh my what a gorgeous slice of life. I want to hang it up over my computer. It would always make me smile.

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  33. Mary, Amazing photo! Your food photography is exquisite as well. Everything looks really good! I love your blog!

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  34. Your lamb looks truly delicious. I roasted 500g of lamb few nights ago. I did it slightly different. I chopped onion, garlic and celery finely with blender and smeared the mixture & honey all over the lamb and let it marinate for overnight. Before I roast it I topped with a lot of cracked black pepper, cumin powder, Szechuan ground pepper, 5 spice powder and pinch of chilli powder .It tastes delicious, the only disappointment is I forgotten to baste the chicken with my new purchased thermometer

    Bon appetite.

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  35. Mary, this sounds yummy. Where do you obtain pomegranate molasses?

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  36. Suzanne, you can purchase it at any mideastern grocery store, or on Amazon.com. The blog Simply Recipes also has a recipe for making it yourself.

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